EA Looking to "Resume" Development on New Command and Conquer

The Command & Conquer series used to be one of the big names in gaming, particularly on PC. It's sad to see how it's fallen from grace in recent years.

The most recently announced installment -- a free-to-play reboot simply called Command & Conquer -- has endured a particularly troubled development cycle, and seemed to be well and truly dead when EA announced the closure of its development studio EA Victory at the end of last month. This, to many, marked the end of the series as a whole, since Victory had been specifically formed to continue the legacy of the once-great series.

It was a surprise to hear of the game's cancellation, since Victory had seemingly been taking on board player feedback and resistance to a free-to-play, multiplayer-centric model; the developer had promised a number of single-player campaigns alongside the multiplayer action, for example, allowing players the opportunity to return to the Command & Conquer universe as we once knew it, and on the whole the project sounded potentially promising. But apparently it was not to be.

Or is it? Blue's News dug up a statement from EA support suggesting that the project might not be as dead as its original studio is.

The statement, which was updated on October 31, promises refunds to closed alpha test participants who spent money on the game, but also notes "for those of you who bought The C&C Ultimate Collection, your early access to the beta will be honored once production of this title resumes under a new studio" and that "[EA looks] forward to sharing the news with you when production resumes on this title in the future." The page's body text also specifically avoids the word "cancelled," instead commenting that the project is "no longer being produced," though the headline does refer to the project's "cancellation and refunds."

While this is by no means a confirmation one way or another -- EA is yet to issue an official clarification on the matter -- it's certainly a sign that the project might not be completely dead, and that we may well see it in one form or another at some point in the near future. Don't get your hopes up too much, though -- and even if it does eventually see release, it remains to be seen how much of a resemblance it bears to the work Victory had already put into it.